Nächtliche Stadt. 1949.
Watercolor over pencil.
Signed and dated lower right. On delicate laid paper. 42,5 x 60,4 cm (16,7 x 23,7 in), the full sheet.

PROVENANCE: Private collection Southern Germany.

Bargheer spent some time on the island of Ischia the year this work was made. Light-flooded landscapes and city views are particularly prominent for this period of creation. Nocturnal pictures, as this one is an example of, are rather rare. The abstract view of the streets of Forio d'Ischia is kept in dark nuances of green, purple and blue, light shades are achieved by the background of the paper shimmering through. Accordingly, our watercolor emanates a distinguished charm that is based on the interplay of translucent parts and saturated parts. Bargheer's compositions develop from the reduced objects and figures and, first and foremost, from the colors' intrinsic light. The artist attained a by then unknown degree of abstraction in this work. [DB]